The Rebellion
by the status is not quo
Summary: Told through the eyes of Kit Marke, a girl from District 13 in the days leading to the uprising and her life during it.   Takes place before the Hunger Games.
1. PROLOGUE

The nation once known as America is gone. The whole planet is basically in ruins. But the nation that replaced America, Panem, is rising from the ashes. They claim that they're doing good for their citizens, that they will become the most powerful nation in this world.

The citizens beg to differ. The corrupt government, the horrible economy, limited security for homes and lives…they have had enough. One by one, each District is starting to listen to the whisperings of rebellion. The Capitol has refused to listen for too long…and it's time for that to change.

A revolution is coming. Will you be behind it? Or against it?

DISCLAIMER: the hunger games, panem and all related names/places/terms are the property of suzanne collins and scholastic. the only things belonging to the author are original characters.


	2. Cold

The cold, crisp winter air whips across my exposed arms, making me shiver and wrap my arms around myself. I'm not prepared for winter yet; it's too early for my taste, this year. I was hoping for a few more golden weeks of fall, but it looks like it's too late to wish for such a thing. I pick up my pace and duck my head as I continue on. I can't be late today; even if it is my last day before heading into the graphite mines. At least one good thing has come of my eighteenth birthday: I won't have to go to school ever again.

At my side, five-year-old Daisy skips along, her arms swinging at her sides. She's singing the song our mother had taught her the night before to ward away unhappy feelings. Though the very idea that Daisy could be unhappy is unfathomable even to me. Behind us, Aspen is dragging his feet and taking more time than we can afford. I turn around and glare at him as a signal to hurry up. Autumn is up ahead of us all, making her usual mad dash for class.

"Autumn, slow down before you trip and hurt yourself!" I call to her, letting my arms drop to my side. Daisy takes hold of my right hand and starts skipping again, humming the song she'd been singing moments before. Autumn takes no heed and whips around a corner, using a lamppost to swing around said corner and go even faster. Aspen has once again slowed down, which I notice when I glance over my shoulder at him.

I was not always the oldest child in my family, that would be Tempest, but he had disappeared in the woods long before Autumn and Aspen can even remember and before Daisy was even born. I remember, though. I remember how mother and father had cried for hours about it when they came to the realization that Tempest was not coming home. I was only ten then, but I can recall small details like that, which is more than my younger siblings can. As I'd grown up I'd formulated theories of how he was actually killed in the woods or what had happened to him. The one I had stuck to the longest was that the Capitol had figured out how much he really knew and had taken him away. This theory, however, was never spoken aloud. No one ever knew who exactly was listening.

"Kit!" Autumn dashes back over to see me, her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. "Will you hurry up already? We're having a speaker from District Twelve today and I do not want to miss it!"

Autumn is the busy little bookworm in our family. She's nothing like her twin, Aspen. At thirteen, she has read almost everything worth reading at our school's library, even a few of the things not worth giving a second glance. Aspen, on the other hand, has the worst grades in his class and hasn't even touched a book aside from when he is strictly and directly told to do so. I don't blame him; reading isn't worth it half of the time, seeing as most literature that's interesting was demolished in the Great War ages ago.

"I'm sorry, you can blame your brother. He's not as excited as you are."

I'm not very excited either. While Autumn's class is meeting someone from District Twelve, we're meeting a woman from District One: The Capitol's lap dog. We're probably going to be told how amazing One is, what privileges they have there. We would have to look at the expensive and glistening clothes she wore that none of us could afford…except maybe the Mayor's daughter Kirtland.

Myself, I'm wearing some of Tempest's old clothes. One of his shirts—which he had cut the sleeves off of one blistering summer—and a pair of pants made of a very light material that let every inch of heat or cold in. These were provided our family by the Capitol. These were the cheap clothes that all of us had to wear in District Thirteen. Of course, clothes are cheaply made all over the place, even in District Eight they have to wear the same clothes as us, only in different colors.

We arrive at school just in time to line up before the beginning bell rings. I hurry to my line after this bell rings, having been hugging Daisy and telling her to come and get me the moment after school is over as always.

"So she _is_ coming to school today," a voice cheers quietly behind me. I turn to see Bract smirking at me. He hands me a small, thin slice of bread with honey spread on top. After I take it into my hands he grins and pushes his mahogany hair out of his eyes. "I saved this for you. I hope you like it. It took quite a bit of begging to let my father agree to give you some."

I know this is an outright lie. His parents are among the wealthier in District Thirteen. They live right outside of the bustling marketplace where they sell handmade sweets, but he pulls off the poor boy routine very well at school. I take a small bite into the bread and hum in delight. Bract smiles wider and pushes me forward, bringing it to my attention that we've fallen to the back of the line. I hop and jog to catch back up, all the while feasting on the birthday treat.

"You didn't have to," I manage after my third bite, "you know that, right? I thought we'd decided six years ago not to do this."

He shrugs, "Eighteen is special. I think it counted as an exception."

I shrug back and finish the honeyed bread, then lick my fingers and wipe them on my pant leg. We take our seats in the back of the classroom and wait for our instructor to arrive with the speaker from District One. Bract and I chat quietly, exchanging conspiracy theories in hushed tones based on what had happened over the weekend. Out of anyone in District Thirteen, I trust Bract the most. We've known each other since we were six and we first started school. He was the one person that I cried to when Tempest died when I was ten, and when my father died in a mining accident when I was thirteen.

The room finally falls silent when a tall and slender woman sweeps into the room. Her high heels click against the wooden floor as she makes her way to the front of the classroom and picks up a remote from the teacher's desk. Her hair is deep gold and even from the back of the room I can tell her eyes are a brilliant blue. She clears her throat and presses a button, which lowers a screen, upon which is the sparkling text: "DISTRICT ONE"

Bract leans over and whispers, "Bet you three laps around the school she's going to start with the amazing things her District can afford."

"You're on."

The speaker's name is Twinkle, which for some reason makes me want to rip my hair out. The names in District One have always sounded stupid to me. We went on a trip to District Four once; I liked the names there much better. Twinkle first speaks on what District One looks like—something everyone in the room already know—and how 'friendly' the people were. I sneak Bract a smirk and hold up three fingers to remind him of our deal.

The rest of the speech bores me nearly to tears. And she uses up every last moment of her allotted time, and may have used more than that if our teacher hadn't stepped in and told her that her time was up. We break for lunch and I watch Bract run three laps around the school with a half-amused smile on my face.

After his dues have been paid, we sit under a massive oak tree near the building and start talking comfortably.

"Olive's been talking about rebellion again," he eventually states. At this point we are both lying on our backs, looking up at the leaves overhead, waiting for the warning bell to sound. It takes a great deal of control not to sit bolt upright. Olive, Bract's older sister, is a revolutionary. She communicates with other citizens in other Districts and talks about how we're being mistreated, how to start a rebellion, and when to do so. A few months ago a few Capitol officials found out about what she was considering and stormed her family's house. They threatened to cut out her tongue if she didn't keep her ideas to herself. I had never admitted that I agreed with what Olive said.

"What's she been saying?" I ask innocently enough, playing with the ends of my hair.

"That she and the others have finally settled on a plan," he replies, then turns on his side and gives me a stern look. "You're not planning to join them, are you?"

I hesitate. I can't tell him exactly why I'm behind Olive and the others on their plan, that I would join them if given the chance, and I can't lie to him. That'd break the trust we've shared for twelve years. "I…I…no, not when my family's relying on me. Mother can only mend clothes for so long and that's not exactly feeding us."

"Exactly. You have to stay here. You can't run away to fight them and neither can I. We have duties. So does Olive, she's just disregarding them so she can play soldier."

The bell rings. I sit up, then get to my feet and wait for Bract to do the same. He gets to his feet quickly and jogs to the school, a pace that I double by sprinting to the door. My cheeks feel warm and flushed by the time I get to the doors. My breath is visible in the freezing air. He catches up to me and takes my arm. I know he's allowed me to beat him this one time. We're kind of immature in the way that we try to constantly beat each other in friendly rivalry. As far as speed goes, Bract is much faster than I am; in fact he's one of the fastest people in our class if not the fastest.

My thoughts go back to Olive and the rebellion as we walk back to class. Bract is telling me about something that must've slipped his mind earlier, but I'm not paying attention. I wonder what it would be like, taking part in a rebellion. How exciting it would be to help make the Capitol listen to us at last. Maybe, if we succeeded, we'd get better clothes, better food, better pay…decent housing. The risks, however, outweigh the possible rewards. Being killed live on television would not be worth it, especially with my family relying on me now more than ever. Illegal hunting and foraging was the only thing keeping my family fed until I started working in the mines, anyway. But I still can't help imagining how bright Daisy's future could look if a rebellion happened and proved successful.

I sit at my desk and place my hand under my chin. I stare blankly at the board as lessons recommence; my mind cannot focus on what is placed in front of me, not at the moment. I swear Bract kicks my foot a few times throughout the next few hours to try and get me to pay attention. I shake my head blearily as the final bell rings and everyone around me begins to stand, stretch, and leave.

I slowly stand and walk out into the hall, where my legs are met by the force of Daisy knocking into them at full-tilt and hugging them tightly. I put on a smile and struggle to keep my focus on my little sister as she tells me about her day in kindergarten. I nod occasionally and laugh at appropriate times while I lead her out to the courtyard to wait for Autumn and Aspen.

My mind was still on revolution.


End file.
